Another Day, Another Homeless Man Video. We Need Change, Now.

Another Day, Another Homeless Man Video. We Need Change, Now.
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In a follow up piece from Sean Kelsey, Director of Operations at Xavier + Associates, a New York criminal defense firm, he looks into another perspective of our drug addiction problem in America.

A co-worker shared a video that has been making its viral rounds again lately. Its message still resonates with many Americans in his exact same situation.

This man is 100% correct and it’s sad, unfortunate, ignorant and preventable.

Society doesn't want him because he was an addict. We as Americans need to do a better job embracing each other versus judging each other, because addiction affects or will affect every single person, either directly or indirectly. What we need to understand is that addiction is indeed a disease and just as with any other disease, needs to be treated, not judged.

Addiction is a condition that results when a person takes a substance (alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, etc.) or engages in an activity (gambling, sex, shopping, etc.) that can be pleasurable but the continued use/act of which becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary life responsibilities, such as work, relationships, or health. Users often are not aware that their behavior is out of control and causing problems for themselves and others.

(1) Addiction can be defined as a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. It is considered a brain disease because drugs change the brain—they change its structure and how it works. These brain changes can be long-lasting, and can lead to the harmful behaviors seen in people who abuse drugs. Source.

Addiction is not a problem? Below is the % of increased overdose deaths since 2001.

  • Prescription medication overdose deaths up 180%
  • Illicit Drug overdose deaths up 376%
  • Heroin overdose deaths up 494%
  • Benzodiazepine overdose deaths up 398%

If we can do a better job of understanding and treating addiction as a disease, then and only then can we start to affect change and fix the problem. Incarceration is typically not the correct treatment, acceptance because just as this gentlemen shows, society doesn’t accept them and typically when going in for a non-violent crime, most come out better educated criminals. Here’s the last article on a plea for less incarceration.

In conclusion, I can say with confidence from having my mother pass away from Glioblastoma multiforme (brain tumor) and knowing other that have passed away from cancer, that society doesn't abandon people who have tumors, cancer, diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis and many others. Instead, as they should they embrace them; they pray for them, they mourn for them, they have memorials, they remember them.

...until society can embrace that addiction it's a disease, addiction will continue to an epidemic in America. What we give attention to as humans will grow. And what we ignore, will wither away.

It’s time that we stop ignoring the problem of addiction before it’s too late and someone you know dies from addition.

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